Jedi Quest_ The Dangerous Games Part 13

He felt the Force around him and in him. In moments like this, Anakin felt capable of anything. The Force was like a gifted companion, a far- seeing guide, a power that gave his muscles strength and his mind and heart vision and will. He felt at the center of the moving Force.

Ready.

There was only one thing to do, and he knew it. He saw the steps ahead that he needed to take. He saw the difficulties and the odds. He even saw the possibility of his own death. It did not matter.

He made his move. He slammed himself against the side of the Podracer and pushed the engine so that he maneuvered close to the left side of the tunnel wall.

Then he accelerated and came up neck and neck with Hekula on his right. Engines screaming, he was less than a centimeter from being smashed against the cave wall.

Hekula shot him an incredulous glance. It was as though Anakin was inside his mind. Hekula could take the opportunity to make one quick swipe, forcing him against the cave wall, and Anakin would be a fireball in seconds. But if Hekula did that, Neluenf, who was close behind them, would swing out to the right and no doubt win the race.

Revenge or victory? Anakin had bet on the answer.

Hekula did not turn his Podracer to sideswipe Ana-kin. Instead, he began the turn. Victory was too close for him to take the chance.

Anakin's Podracer was so snug against Hekula's that it was forced to turn left as well. Sparks flew as his Podracer sc.r.a.ped along the wall.

The sh.e.l.l of the Podracer began to smoke. Anakin tasted smoke and fire in his mouth. He did not let up on his speed. If he did, he would be dead.

The spectators gasped as the two Podracers rounded the left curve, seemingly one connected beast. The flat straightaway was ahead, the finish line crowded with the Podracer teams and spectators who had risked the anger of Podracer security and jumped out of the stands.

And there was his Master, looking straight at him. The Podracer was barreling toward him at 600 kilometers an hour. And he had no brakes.

Anakin pushed the speed, pa.s.sing Hekula. Then he cut the power and slammed all his weight to one side.

His Podracer began to spin. He crossed the finish line, spinning so wildly that neither Hekula or Neluenf could pa.s.s him.

The Podracer came to a slow stop. At first Anakin could not hear the cheers over the ringing in his ears. He had won. And no one was dead.

Suddenly, he felt very tired. He saw the faces as a blur. Liviani Sarno, looking strangely pale. His Master, looking grave but relieved.

And Sebulba, snarling at him, waving his arms and crying "Foul!"

Hot anger spilled through Anakin. He threw off his goggles and vaulted out of the Podracer.

"You!" he thundered at Hekula and Sebulba. "You're the cheats!"

Because of them, countless innocent beings might have been killed.

Anakin had no doubt that Sebulba had been the one behind the sabotage of Deland's Pod-racer. They could not completely rely on getting the track information first. They had to destroy their closest rival. It was just like Sebulba to go that one, cruel step further.

The red mist he had come to recognize as rage filled his vision, driving out the memory of the clarity of the Force. He could see nothing but his rage against Sebulba, at anyone who would risk so many lives just to win.

"Slave boy! You have to cheat to win! There's no mother watching this time to disapprove!"

The taunting words filled his head and the red mist grew dense and hot.

He reached down for his lightsaber, but a strong hand closed over his.

"No, Padawan."

Obi-Wan's voice reached him as if from a long distance.

"He did it." Anakin struggled to keep the rage away. He pictured the red mist leaving him, floating over a distant hill. "He deserves to be punished."

"No." Obi-Wan's voice was stronger still. He drew Anakin away.

"Listen to me, Padawan. Sebulba did not cheat. It was Doby and Deland."

Anakin blinked. He could not absorb the words. "It was...

"They made a deal with Maxo Vista. They would have advance knowledge of the Podrace track. What they didn't know was that Vista was going to sabotage the Podracer. He wanted a fireball, a tremendous accident to occur."

"That means that... 1 was getting advance track information, not Hekula," Anakin said slowly. "It wasn't just the Force." That explained Hekula's sometimes puzzling failure to get ahead. He looked around.

"Where are they?"

"They've disappeared with Djulla," Obi-Wan said. "I am sure they did it to save their sister. She has been freed, and they are gone. They most likely hid a transport nearby."

Sebulba was still watching him. Hekula sat slumped in his Podracer, too stunned to emerge. "You'll pay for this, slave boy!" Sebulba snarled.

Anakin took a step toward him but again his Master stopped him.

"He is my enemy," Anakin said.

"You are a Jedi," Obi-Wan told him. His voice was low and pitched only for Anakin. "You are a Jedi," he repeated.

The mist in Anakin's head cleared. He took a breath and looked around. Ferus Olin was watching him, as he always was, his dark eyes gleaming with secret knowledge, as if he had glimpsed the red mist that was Anakin's rage. Tru nodded at him, his expression showing only loyalty and affection. Ry-Gaul appeared to be guarding Liviani Sarno.

Nothing was as he thought it would be. He felt his legs trembling.

He had almost lost control in front of his fellow Padawans and two Jedi Masters. He had come so close.

Obi-Wan's voice was gentle. "Come, Padawan. There is a mission to complete."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.

The hearing was presided over by Ruler Three, Ruler Six, and Ruler Seven. The entire Games Council was allowed to attend.

Obi-Wan was not allowed to hear the testimony before his. It was how hearings were conducted on Euceron. He watched Maxo Vista emerge, then Liviani Sarno, then Bog. At last he was called.

Obi-Wan laid out the details of what he had discovered. He accused Liviani Sarno and Maxo Vista of conspiring to disgrace the Senators in order for the Commerce Guild to pa.s.s legislation that would earn them fortunes beyond measure. He accused Maxo Vista specifically of the murder of Aarno Dering.

"Have you evidence of this?" Ruler Three asked.

"The files on Liviani Sarno's and Maxo Vista's datapads were timed to erase themselves," Obi-Wan admitted. "And no one saw Maxo Vista run away from Dering but me."

"Did you see his face?"

"No," Obi-Wan said. "He wore a concealing helmet. Yet I knew it was him."

"So we have only your word that the hero of Euceron and the ill.u.s.trious head of the Games are guilty," Ruler Three said.

"My word is all you need," Obi-Wan answered.

"Perhaps on Coruscant," Ruler Three said coolly. "But not on Euceron. You claim that the Podracer was programmed to crash into a crowd. But it did not crash."

"Only thanks to the skill of my Padawan."

"You claim Aarno Dering fixed three events, yet Aarno Dering is dead. Maxo Vista and Liviani Sarno have denied all charges. The Games Council has backed them up."

"Didi Oddo can confirm the events were fixed - " "He has left the planet."

That was not a surprise. "Bog Divinian saw the files on Vista's datapad," Obi-Wan said.

"He has denied seeing them," Ruler Seven said. Obi-Wan remembered Bog's sad notes on how to succeed. NEVER CONTRADICT A SUPERIOR!! FOLLOW THE POWER!!.

He had been foolish to imagine that Bog would not give in to pressure from Maxo and Liviani.

He gazed at the faces of the Council. None of them met his eyes. No one wanted the scandal to see the light. Not the Ruling Power, not the Games Council. And no doubt Bog Divinian had just ensured that he would be elected Senator on his homeworld. The Commerce Guild would see to that.

This is what the galaxy is becoming, Obi-Wan thought with a sudden, sharp sadness. Those with power hide the truth, and the weak go along in hopes they will become the strong.

"I can see there is no more I can do here," Obi-Wan said. He strode off the platform and left the room.

Anakin was waiting. When he told him what had occurred, his Padawan was furious. "How can they do this? Maxo Vista and Liviani Sarno are guilty! And they are going to walk free! This is an injustice!" Anakin's words echoed off the hard plastoid walls of the Grand Court.

"It is a hard thing to see happen," Obi-Wan agreed. "But sometimes even when the mission is successful, justice is not done. It happens. At least the Commerce Guild did not get what they wanted. No spectators were killed and their legislation may be defeated by those they wished to disgrace."

"And Aarno Dering? Maxo Vista will get away with murder!"

"That is the hardest of all," Obi-Wan said.

They walked down the hall toward the exit. As they pushed through the heavy metal doors, they saw Astri waiting, leaning against the rail.

She came toward them slowly.

"I am sorry, Obi-Wan," Astri said. "I offered to testify, but I didn't see the datapad myself, so the Ruling Power would not allow me. It was my word against Bog's. Didi wanted to help, but Bog said he would press charges for the theft of the speeder. So Didi thought it best to leave the planet. You know he has no moral courage." Astri shook her head. "I seem to have married a similar man. Bog isn't bad. He was pressured by Liviani and he wors.h.i.+ps Maxo Vista. He swears to me that when he becomes Senator he will do good."

Obi-Wan nodded sadly. "I'm sure he believes that, Astri. But he is already in debt before he starts. He has done a favor for the Commerce Guild, but he has lied in a hearing. So they have something on him. That will corrupt him."

"I am frightened for my future," Astri said, her dark eyes bleak.

"But I have no choice but to go on."

Obi-Wan touched her cheek. "Your loyalty is what drives you, Astri.

I would not like to see you lose that."

"So we are still friends?"

"We will always be friends."

Astri nodded and slowly walked down the steps. Soon she was lost in the swirl of the crowd. Obi-Wan felt a sudden pang. Would he ever see her again?

"Nothing has turned out as I thought," Anakin said. "I was here to work on my Jedi lesson of connection to the Living Force. If that is true, I've failed. I judged everyone wrong. I did not see that Doby and Deland were using me. I trusted my instincts, and they betrayed me."

"Do not judge yourself so harshly, Padawan," Obi-Wan said. "Your mistake was one of the heart. You allowed your emotion to cloud your instincts. You allowed what your heart wanted to be true to make it true.

Connections to other beings, good and bad, must be pure and free of one's own desires. You wanted Sebulba to be the culprit, so you made him one."

"I thought my connection to the Living Force was clear, and it's not at all," Anakin said moodily. "I have such a long way to go."

"If it makes you feel better, I made the same mistake with Maxo Vista, " Obi-Wan said. "Jedi lessons are learned by Masters as well as Padawans."

"Wisdom comes with time and missions," Anakin said, repeating Obi-Wan's own words.

Obi-Wan smiled gently. "And mistakes," he said.